Deep into our second month here in Geneva, we have experienced many new adventures - from discovering beautiful towns, to great outings at doggie day care (DDC), and to Jason finding out he really loves futbol (or soccer as Americans call it). He is getting hooked almost as much as he is to baseball.
This week was no different – in fact, I’m not sure any week will be without an adventure of some sort.
Natalie kicked off the week with a good vacuuming of the house and the usual logistics (e.g., dry cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.) We also welcomed a new addition to the house set-up – a TV! Jason and Natalie purchased their TV a while ago; however, never got around to taking it out of the box and setting it up, primarily because they were trying to figure out the cable situation.
Well, they finally figured out the cable and how to install the TV. By Monday the TV was set-up and CNN was the primary source of noise in our home on Route de Chevrens. This is actually not that much different than what was on TV in our home on 18th avenue in SF; for a moment while sleeping on my familiar couch I had a bit of déjà vu. All I needed was some fog to roll in and I’d completely forget where I was!
Jason and Natalie, through their research and talking to their landlords, found out CNN is one of the few English channels we’ll get and the rest are French and German. This is fine, as Natalie and Jason need to learn their French.
Speaking of French, Natalie and Jason also continued with their French lessons, which are now regularly on Monday and Friday evenings. The lessons are beginning to get more difficult; however, Natalie and Jason are slowly progressing.
I didn’t visit DDC until Thursday of this week, since I was still on antibiotics from my mysterious fever the week before. According to Natalie and Jason, my antibiotics would continue until Wednesday and I’d get to visit my Vet, Dr. Luka, one more time on Wednesday evening to make sure I was okay. I definitely wasn’t looking forward to the Vet visit, but I was sure glad to feel better and be able to eat and run around.
Therefore, instead of my usual DDC on Tuesday, Natalie actually had a special ‘non-food’ treat in store for me. I would get to hang out and play with Sylvio and Christianne (our landlord’s) dog, Eliot, and his sister Vicky!
Both Eliot and Vicky are very beautiful Golden Retrievers. Eliot is a nice guy who likes to get pets and will stay by his human’s side until he gets his proper fill of love. Vicky is a strong-willed and strong-minded girl who can dig with the best of them.
After some coaxing on Natalie’s part to get Eliot and Vicky out of Sylvio and Christianne’s house, we finally all made it outside, the leashes came off (for me, at least) and Eliot and I were in an all out sprint towards the digging ‘land-of-plenty’ (the horse pasture behind our house)! Vicky had to stay on leash as she takes stubborn to a new level when being called.
(Vicky! Waiting to go to Twilight Park!)
Natalie let all three of us dig for a short while and then we slowly made our way towards Twilight Park. We were slow, because Eliot and I found new digging adventures on our way to the park. At one point, we both were camouflaged in the golden wheat fields.
(Eliot and I camouflaged in the wheat fields.)
We finally made it to Twilight Park and Vicky was let loose. There, we all went to town digging and sniffing and chasing and just having a good time, in general.
(A whole pile of fur digging away in Twilight Park.)
Finally, it was time to go home and of course, Vicky held true to form and didn’t come over when called. Natalie had to stoop under trees to leash Vicky and pull her out of her well-dug hole.
We all made it back safely and I had a lovely nap that afternoon dreaming about my recent adventures with my two friends from downstairs.
Also on Tuesday, Jason took a day trip to London for work and I got to see the train station for the first time - Natalie dropped Jason off so he could take a train to the airport and then picked him up late that evening.
On Wednesday, Natalie and Jason woke up well before any civilization should ever think to get out of bed. I didn’t move and based on what I could make out in my sleepy haziness, Natalie and Jason left the house at around 5am.
I come to find out later that Jason was taking Natalie to the train station to catch the morning’s first train to Milan, where she would be meeting her friend Stephanie!
Stephanie was in various parts of Italy, including Lake Como, with her family for vacation. Since Stephanie was somewhat in Natalie’s ‘neck of the woods’, Natalie and Stephanie thought it would be fun to meet up, and what better place to meet than in Milan – there’s good food, good sights and of course, good shopping!
Natalie and Stephanie met up with each other at the Milan train station at about 9:45am and were off!
The first place they visited was a nearby hotel to get a map – after standing around outside the station for a few minutes wondering where to go, they figured it best to have some sort of direction for the day.
The day would be short – Natalie and Stephanie both had trains back to Geneva and Lake Como at around 7pm - therefore, they decided to just focus on one part of Milan, the shopping part.
There is an area of Milan called the ‘Quadrilatero D’Oro,’ and is essentially where all the shopping happens. The stores range from mid-level, such as Timberland, to very high-end, such as Prada. Luckily, Natalie and Stephanie were able to walk to the “Quad” from the train station; therefore, needless to say, the day would be spent at this shopper’s paradise.
Most of the morning was spent browsing all the nice shops and enjoying the pleasant weather. Since Stephanie’s ‘dogs were barking’ (i.e., her feet were hurting) and Natalie’s feet could use a breather themselves, they both decided on having an early lunch at around noon – which, by the way, is early for Milanianss.
Since neither Natalie or Stephanie were up for doing a lot of research on where to eat, they decided to dine at the first place they came across, which, luckily turned out to be quite good.
They place they chose to eat at was called Martini. For lunch, Natalie and Stephanie had various forms of Italian sandwiches. Stephanie had a more traditional-style Panini and Natalie had a sandwich that was similar to a wrap. Both of were good and were made even better with the cocktails accompanying their meal.
(The free 'aperitivos' Natalie and Stephanie received prior to their lunch arriving.)
(Stephanie and her Bellini)
(Natalie and her Cosmo)
A leisurely lunch and a couple of cocktails later, Natalie and Stephanie continued to wander around the “Quad” and just happened to come across a Louis Vuitton! For those of you that may not know, the only luxury brand Natalie will buy is LV. Natalie is on the lookout for a small messenger bag to use when she takes me on my long walks and it so happened that the LV in Milano had the perfect bag!
Natalie bought the bag (and Natalie actually found out later that Jason had predicted she would buy a bag in Milan!)
With her new purchase in hand, Natalie and Stephanie continued discovering the many available options for reaching the limit on their credit cards, but maintained control with the only other purchases that day being a nice dress shirt for Jason and a Prada purse for April (April, even though she’s all the way in California just could not resist the opportunity for a purse knowing that her sister and best friend were right in the middle of Prada-land.)
(Milan - great stores and beautiful architecture all in one!)
Natalie and Stephanie’s late afternoon activities were greeted with a Prosecco break before venturing towards one of the most magnificent cathedrals they’ve ever laid eyes upon – the Duomo!
It is so difficult to describe, that Natalie asked me to include a quote from Mark Twain, which perfectly sums up the grandeur of the Duomo - What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems ...a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!...Mark Twain
(The magnificent Duomo - pic #1)
(Duomo - pic #2)
(Duomo - pic #3)
The day was finally winding down and soon it would be time for Natalie and Stephanie to walk back to the train station. Before they left this exciting city of Milan, though, it was only fitting they end their adventures with some of the most delicious gelato they’ve ever eaten.
The place they chose to enjoy this delectable ice cream is Sant Ambroeus. Sant Ambroeus is a pastry shop Natalie found while doing some research on Milan – it did not disappoint.
Both Natalie and Stephanie had two huge scoops of gelato, along with cappuccinos – Stephanie had the mandorla (almond) and café gelato and Natalie had the mandorla and stracciatella gelato. The mandorla was so good that Natalie is still having dreams about it.
(Stephanie with her delicious gelato!)
Natalie and Stephanie reached the train station in plenty of time to say their goodbyes and have a couple last laughs before their journey home. It was a long day, but based on Natalie’s enthusiasm when Jason and I visited the train station again to pick her up late that evening, it was well worth it.
Jason, even though he didn’t go to Milan, also was enthusiastic on Wednesday evening. The USA futbol team had managed to secure a win against Algeria to secure a spot in the semi-finals! This was very exciting news and sure enough the next couple of days were spent in much anticipation of the USA’s semi-final game on Saturday evening against Ghana.
The remainder of the workweek was quite relaxing. I happily went back to DDC on Thursday and enjoyed the overall nice weather Geneva was finally having.
Unfortunately, the workweek ended on a sour note for the Swiss futbol team - they got beat by Chile on Friday evening and didn’t make it into the semifinals; therefore, all of our hope was truly resting on the USA team.
Since we had a busy week, Natalie and Jason decided to stay in the Geneva area for the weekend. Natalie ran with the Achilles International team on Saturday, while Jason worked out (I slept). Natalie and Jason also found a stand for their TV on Saturday – they are slowly finishing up the last to-dos on their house.
Saturday evening was the big night – the USA vs. Ghana. Natalie and Jason met up with their friend, Julie, at the Clubhouse Bar in Geneva and eagerly awaited the start of the game. Well, unfortunately 120 minutes of play later, Ghana won the match 2-1 and the USA was out of the World Cup.
Clearly, Natalie and Jason would’ve hoped the outcome of the game to be better; however, it was exciting just to see the USA make the semi-finals.
We all slept in a bit on Sunday, went to our favorite bakery in Veigy and decided to enjoy the afternoon in Natalie’s new favorite town – Chamonix, France.
On the way to Chamonix, we stopped in a town called Megeve. This was another ski town near the Alps and was similar to Samoens, France and Courmayeur, Italy, both of which we had visited in prior weeks.
The town was quite charming, yet interestingly enough, very trendy at the same time. For example, right next to a very traditional ski chalet-themed restaurant was a bar that looked like it came straight out of New York City.
(The charming town of Megeve)
We didn’t stay in Megeve long, just enough time to grab a coffee and walk around town. On our way out of Megeve to Chamonix, we came across a small home decoration shop and Jason and Natalie picked up a couple of nightstands for our bedroom, as well as some lamps.
(Jason and Natalie on our walk in Megeve)
(Here's me in Megeve! enjoying the warm sunshine and cool mist from the rushing river below!)
We finally got into Chamonix at around 3pm and Jason and Natalie were starting to get hungry. Therefore, we stopped in at a brewery called Micro Brasserie de Chamonix, which is actually run by Canadians! It was a very fun atmosphere, great food and according to Jason and Natalie, great beer. We also got a chance to watch England get beat up by Germany in the World Cup.
(A fuzzy picture of the beer tanks at Micro Brasserie de Chamonix - I think Natalie may have had too much beer at this point.)
(Jason with his beer at the Micro Brasserie)
(Natalie with her beer at the Micro Brasserie)
(A shot of the fries and french onion dip at the Micro Brasserie....does it get any better than that?!)
After lunch, we strolled around Chamonix and in the typical ‘Potesta-family’ tradition Natalie and Jason shopped for dinner, which would be a meal of herb sausages and a 32 month aged Vieux Comte Reserve cheese.
Natalie’s maiden name is Potesta and for those of you that don’t know, Natalie’s side of the family is so obsessed with food that they usually talk about the next meal, while eating their current meal. Jason, being around the Potesta family for over 10 years now has adopted this approach to meal planning.
(I'm enjoying some toss-the-stick-in-the-creek time before we leave Chamonix. This little creek was right by our car, so, it worked out perfectly for me to play in the water a bit and then get the car all wet!)
We arrived home later that evening, enjoyed a casual dinner and watched CNN until it was time to retire for the night. After another week of adventures and new discoveries I was ready for some good rest.
Paws,
Sabrina
No comments:
Post a Comment